The morning of the twentieth of July, bright and shiny like the moods of all the dancers who have come together. We meet up in the beautiful city of Leeds, outside the hugely respected West Yorkshire Playhouse. Emma Treggiden the director of Space2 is there to meet and greet us.
We are taken to our dressing room which is number seven and then straight to a tech rehearsal in the Quarry Theatre. We run through the dance a few times whilst light, music and placings are worked through and we get a feel for the stage, which is the biggest stage we have performed on and Emma lets us know that there will be four hundred in the crowd! The performance that we are a part of is called 'Recipe of Life' with a variety of choirs and community performers.
As we wait for the dress rehearsal Paul Bayes Kitcher gathers us together for a share of our thoughts and we practice a Deepak Chopra meditation for ten minutes, it's good to connect and spend time as a group. We have a lot of time waiting, There are lots of laughs and high antics between us all as well as going off on our own, Lyndsy practices yoga, Andy and myself spend some time taking photographs, Tony is practicing his moves in the hallway, Phil is saluting to the sun and Pat as doing a little bit of everything.
As we wait for the dress rehearsal Paul Bayes Kitcher gathers us together for a share of our thoughts and we practice a Deepak Chopra meditation for ten minutes, it's good to connect and spend time as a group. We have a lot of time waiting, There are lots of laughs and high antics between us all as well as going off on our own, Lyndsy practices yoga, Andy and myself spend some time taking photographs, Tony is practicing his moves in the hallway, Phil is saluting to the sun and Pat as doing a little bit of everything.
The dress rehearsal is nerve wracking and goes very well, i'm not happy with a few of my moves so spend an hour or so working on them and Lyndsy helps me to make a few changes until they feel right to me. I grab Tony to practice our duet until it flows, i practice yoga, eat and pray as time moves forward and we come closer to the seven o'clock beginning performance, the excitement and nerves grow. What an amazing experience to be a part of, i'm very grateful, I'm going to leave you with Andies take on the actual performance which sums it up really well.
Stage right in the wings we stand in line, a quartet – Phil, Tony, Alison, Andy. Onstage, Lyndsey is our Angel, a stunning poetic image. In a few moments I will find a beat in the music and step onstage. Out there, right now, the stage is a universe. I am not scared. I pray to Divinity. I feel safe, protected, ready…We dance in the moment. We face the auditorium and take our bow. I cannot see anyone, it is darkness, but I am facing the cosmos and it is full of energy and response. Right there, I find the intimus, the inmost is risen in me, and it remains a beautiful moment even now. I feel proud about what we have all done. I feel tearful later, and the next day too. It seemed, I thought, that I was finding a way back to blocked off feelings, of love and the simple joy of it all. Andy.